Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

Alzheimer’s disease: the role of extrinsic factors in its development, an investigation of the environmental enigma

This review examines how environmental contaminants, including microplastics, may contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk. Along with air pollutants, toxic metals, and pesticides, plastics and microplastics are identified as potential risk factors that may promote brain inflammation and neurodegeneration. The review explores the molecular mechanisms behind these effects and suggests strategies to reduce the brain health impacts of environmental contaminants.

2023 Frontiers in Neurology 68 citations
Article Tier 2

The Role of Emerging Environmental Contaminants on Alzheimer’s Disease

This review examined the role of emerging environmental contaminants, including microplastics, in the development and progression of Alzheimer's disease. The authors discussed mechanisms including oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and blood-brain barrier disruption as potential pathways linking environmental exposures to AD pathogenesis.

2025 IntechOpen eBooks
Article Tier 2

A novel risk factor for dementia: chronic microplastic exposure

This review examines emerging evidence that chronic microplastic exposure may be a previously overlooked risk factor for dementia. Microplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier and may promote brain damage through oxidative stress, inflammation, and by accelerating the buildup of amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer's disease, with studies finding higher microplastic levels in the brains of dementia patients compared to controls.

2025 Frontiers in Neurology 13 citations
Article Tier 2

[Environmental pollutants and Alzheimer's disease].

This review examines how common environmental pollutants — including heavy metals, pesticides, and microplastics — contribute to Alzheimer's disease risk by damaging neurons, triggering inflammation, and promoting the hallmark protein buildups (amyloid-beta and tau) seen in the disease. Microplastics are identified as an emerging neurotoxic pollutant alongside more established chemicals. The evidence adds to growing concern that everyday environmental exposures, not just genetics, play a meaningful role in driving dementia.

2023 PubMed 2 citations
Article Tier 2

[Environmental pollutants and Alzheimer's disease].

This review examined how environmental pollutants including heavy metals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and microplastics contribute to Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis by promoting beta-amyloid accumulation, tau hyperphosphorylation, and neuroinflammation, suggesting that pollutant exposure is an underappreciated risk factor.

2023 Sheng li xue bao : [Acta physiologica Sinica]
Clinical Trial Tier 1

Novel Therapeutic Strategies in Alzheimer’s Disease: Pitfalls and Challenges of Anti-Amyloid Therapies and Beyond

This review examines why clinical trials targeting amyloid-beta for Alzheimer's disease have largely failed, and explores emerging alternatives including tau-targeted therapies, neuroinflammation modulation, and gene therapy. The study is not directly related to microplastic research.

2024 Journal of Clinical Medicine 22 citations
Article Tier 2

The Potential Presence of Microplastics in Daily Food and Beverage Consumption May Lead to Alzheimer's disease in The Thai Population

This review examines the potential presence of microplastics in everyday food and beverages including seafood, tap water, bottled water, and packaged foods, summarizing current contamination data and dietary exposure estimates. The authors highlight the need for standardized methods to improve comparability across studies.

2024 International Journal of Current Science Research and Review 1 citations
Article Tier 2

The role of microplastics exposure in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease

Researchers reviewed the mechanistic links between microplastic and nanoplastic exposure and the two most common neurodegenerative diseases — Alzheimer's and Parkinson's — finding evidence that oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, blood-brain barrier disruption, and protein aggregation are key pathways connecting plastic pollution to neurodegeneration.

2026 Discover Applied Sciences
Article Tier 2

DMSP for 'Quantitative Assessment of Nanoplastics in Alzheimer's Disease Brain and Their Role in Amyloid-β Aggregation'

Researchers quantitatively assessed nanoplastic contamination in Alzheimer's disease brain tissue and investigated whether nanoplastics play a role in amyloid-beta aggregation. The study suggests that nanoplastics, now ubiquitous in the environment and present in drinking water and food, may represent an environmental factor that could modify Alzheimer's disease pathology by interacting with amyloid-beta protein aggregation.

2026
Article Tier 2

Do microplastics play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases? Shared pathophysiological pathways for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease

This review explores the emerging connection between microplastic exposure and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, identifying shared pathophysiological pathways. Researchers found that microplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier and may trigger oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and protein aggregation, which are hallmarks of these conditions. The study suggests that chronic microplastic exposure could be a contributing environmental factor in neurodegeneration, though direct causal evidence in humans is still lacking.

2025 Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Elucidating the Neurotoxicopathological Impact of Micro and Nanoplastics: Mechanistic Insights Into Oxidative Stress-mediated Neurodegeneration and Implications for Public Health in a Plastic Pervasive Era

Researchers reviewed the growing evidence linking micro- and nanoplastic exposure to neurodegenerative diseases, identifying oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, DNA damage, and protein misfolding as key mechanisms of harm to the brain. The review highlights critical knowledge gaps — especially around chronic low-dose exposure — and calls for better detection tools and public health policies to address the emerging neurological threat from plastic pollution.

2025 Indian Journal of Health Care Medical & Pharmacy Practice
Article Tier 2

Cerebral to SystemicRepresentations of Alzheimer’sPathogenesis Stimulated by Polystyrene Nanoplastics

Researchers exposed both wild-type and APP/PS1 Alzheimer's model mice to environmental levels of polystyrene nanoplastics and measured Alzheimer's-like pathology progression. Nanoplastics exacerbated cognitive decline, microglial activation, and hippocampal neuronal death, particularly in the Alzheimer's model, with systemic inflammatory effects suggesting plastic particles may accelerate neurodegeneration.

2025 Figshare
Article Tier 2

The impact of microplastics on neurodegenerative diseases and underlying molecular mechanisms: A narrative review

This review explores how microplastics that accumulate in the environment can reach the brain through inhalation or by crossing the blood-brain barrier. Researchers examined evidence suggesting that microplastics may contribute to the onset or acceleration of neurodegenerative conditions by triggering harmful responses in brain cells. The study calls for stronger environmental policies, better detection methods, and further research into potential therapeutic interventions.

2024 Environmental Disease 8 citations
Article Tier 2

Uncovering the impact of nano- and microplastics on neurodegenerative diseases and strategies to mitigate their damage

Researchers reviewed evidence that micro- and nanoplastics may contribute to the progression of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases by triggering brain inflammation, disrupting mitochondria (the cell's power source), and damaging the blood-brain barrier. The review also found that natural compounds like melatonin and probiotics show early promise in reducing some of these harmful effects.

2025 Environmental Medicine 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Insights into the toxic effects of micro-nano-plastics on the human brain and their relationship with the onset of neurological diseases: A narrative review.

This review examined toxic effects of micro and nano-plastics (MNPs) on the human brain, linking MNP exposure to neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, disruption of the blood-brain barrier, and progression toward neurodegenerative diseases. The authors synthesized evidence from cell studies, animal models, and emerging human data.

2025 Ageing research reviews
Article Tier 2

Impact of nanoplastics on Alzheimer ’s disease: Enhanced amyloid-β peptide aggregation and augmented neurotoxicity

Researchers found that even very low concentrations of polystyrene nanoplastics can speed up the clumping of amyloid-beta protein, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, and increase its toxicity to brain cells. The hydrophobic (water-repelling) surface of the nanoplastics helps the proteins stick together faster, suggesting a potential link between environmental nanoplastic exposure and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

2024 Journal of Hazardous Materials 70 citations
Article Tier 2

MOF-Based Biosensors for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease Associated with Emerging Contaminants

This review explores how metal-organic framework-based biosensors could enable early detection of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers linked to exposure to emerging contaminants including microplastics and phthalates. The study suggests that chronic exposure to these environmental pollutants may contribute to neuroinflammation and protein aggregation associated with neurodegeneration, and that advanced biosensor technology could help identify at-risk individuals.

2026 Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Article Tier 2

Association of microplastics in human cerebrospinal fluid with Alzheimer’s disease-related changes

Researchers detected four types of microplastics in human cerebrospinal fluid (the liquid surrounding the brain and spinal cord) and found that people with Alzheimer's disease markers had significantly higher levels of polyethylene and PVC. Higher microplastic levels in cerebrospinal fluid were linked to worse cognitive test scores and faster mental decline over one year, suggesting a potential connection between brain microplastic exposure and Alzheimer's progression.

2025 Journal of Hazardous Materials 18 citations
Article Tier 2

Short-Term Exposure to Polystyrene Microplastics Alters Cognition, Immune, and Metabolic Markers in an APOE Genotype and Sex-Dependent Manner

Researchers exposed Alzheimer's disease mouse models to polystyrene microplastics for a short term and observed worsened cognitive performance, altered immune markers, and disrupted metabolic pathways, suggesting that MP exposure may accelerate neurological decline in individuals already vulnerable to dementia.

2025
Article Tier 2

Microglial clearance of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta obstructed by nanoplastics

Researchers found that polystyrene nanoplastics interfere with the brain's ability to clear amyloid-beta, the protein that builds up in Alzheimer's disease. The nanoplastics accelerated amyloid clumping and drained the energy of brain immune cells that normally clean up these harmful proteins. This study suggests that nanoplastic exposure could worsen or contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

2025 Environmental Science Nano 6 citations
Article Tier 2

From the Environment to Molecular Interactions of Nanoplastics: Unraveling the Neurotoxic Impacts and the Implications in Neurodegenerative Processes

This review examines how nanoplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier and potentially contribute to brain damage and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Nanoplastics have been found in food, water, and air, and once they reach the brain they can trigger inflammation, oxidative stress, and protein misfolding. The review calls for more realistic lab studies and better detection methods to understand the true scope of nanoplastic effects on brain health.

2024 Applied Sciences 12 citations
Article Tier 2

Environmental Nanoplastic Accumulation and Neurodegenerative Disease in Animal Models

This review examines animal model evidence linking environmental nanoplastic accumulation in brain tissue to neurodegeneration, synthesizing studies showing that nanoplastics trigger neuroinflammation, protein aggregation, and synaptic dysfunction relevant to Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease pathology.

2025 Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino della Società Italiana di Biologia Sperimentale
Article Tier 2

Microplastic Exposure Promotes Amyloid Misfolding and Metabolic Impairment at Sub-Lethal Doses in an In Vitro Cellular Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

Researchers exposed cellular models of Alzheimer's disease to sub-lethal polystyrene microplastics and nanoplastics and monitored amyloid protein misfolding and metabolic impairment using photothermal microscopy. Even low-dose plastic exposure promoted amyloid aggregation and disrupted cellular energy metabolism, suggesting microplastics may accelerate the molecular processes underlying Alzheimer's pathology.

2025
Article Tier 2

Low-Density Polyethylene Microplastics in the Blood Seems not Induce Alzheimer’s Disease in Wistar Rat

Researchers investigated whether low-density polyethylene microplastics in the blood trigger Alzheimer's disease in Wistar rats, noting that these particles enter the human body through contaminated food sources including table salt, fish, tea bags, and drinking water.

2023 Public Health Open Access